Chapter 132
Shen Yue stared at Ma Sha for a long time.
She thought, this was perhaps destiny.
If one was destined for suffering at birth, then one should not expect happiness that did not belong to them, otherwise, destiny would, without warning or mercy, ruthlessly push you back into the darkness just when you thought you saw light.
And you would have no way to fight back.
Shen Yue sat next to Ma Sha and held her now ice-cold hand. She suddenly felt a lot of pain.
The suppressed feeling from her heart was like a iron hammer, fiercely pounding at every inch of her flesh and bones.
Strangely though, even so, Shen Yue did not feel like crying.
The last time she cried was because she was afraid of losing something.
But now she had already lost it, so there was no need to cry anymore.
Shen Yue sat next to Ma Sha for 30 minutes without doing anything.
On the 31st minute, she stood up, pressed the earpiece, and called No. 14 as usual.
No. 14 was sitting on the sofa in the prison guard room listening to the gossip from the talkative people in Building 3 tell stories about the latest love triangle drama. He suddenly heard the familiar ringtone belonging to Shen Yue in his earpiece.
It was the exclusive ringtone for when Shen Yue called.
No. 14 sighed and stopped his happy voice chat with Building 3. He answered Shen Yue’s call.
"What can I do for you?"
Although No. 14 gave the formulaic reply, he knew very clearly that usually when Shen Yue contacted him at this time, having just finished lunch with Ma Sha, she would ask him to go up and clean up the bowls and chopsticks, and take any dirty clothes to be washed. If he was lucky, he would also get to see Ma Sha excitedly dressing Shen Yue in different clothes and then asking him which outfit looked best.
Of course, in his personal opinion, the best would be a crisp black leather jacket, paired with shorts that just reached the thighs, and long hair tied into one big braid. It would look stylish and fierce - clearly a character that could not be messed with in prison!
But Ma Sha would always prefer to dress Shen Yue in skirts, especially white ones, while praising how pretty Shen Yue looked in skirts and mocking his vulgar taste.
No. 14 would always silently roll his eyes in his heart, while keeping a formulaic smile on his face. He was considered a veteran prison guard here, having seen all kinds of tactics. He knew very well why Ma Sha behaved this way.
Ma Sha was trying to win him over.
He was the person closest to Shen Yue in the entire prison apart from Ma Sha. He also knew Shen Yue's true personality. More importantly, he was strong and smart - if he wanted, he could even hide things from the outside eyes. It was completely beneficial for Ma Sha to win him over and harmless.
In fact, he was quite interested in Ma Sha's little tricks. After all, dressing Shen Yue in different clothes and hairstyles gave him a strange sense of accomplishment.
While thinking this, No. 14 pondered what he should do for Shen Yue to take initiative and ask him to help with her hair. Usually it was Ma Sha who played with Shen Yue's hair, and he wanted to try it too.
"No. 14, I can get whatever I want from outside, right?"
Shen Yue's voice was flat without much fluctuation, almost mechanical - strict and expressionless, showing no sign of emotion.
No. 14 frowned. Shen Yue's state seemed different from usual. "Of course."
No. 14 did not lie. Since he had taken over Shen Yue's management, he had been repeatedly told from the outside that Shen Yue was special.
As long as it was Shen Yue's request, no matter what, the outside would satisfy it. This was also why No. 14 had always unconditionally indulged Shen Yue's antics.
Then he heard Shen Yue's emotionless command from the earpiece, "Bring Aipuli'er O'Neil to me immediately."
No. 14 put away the smile at the corner of his mouth that appeared when he first answered Shen Yue's call. His eyes gradually churned with emotion, but his expression did not reveal anything unusual. "Okay, please wait a moment."
Shen Yue hung up the call and started to carefully move Ma Sha onto the bed. She covered Ma Sha with a blanket, then turned and left Ma Sha's room.
Shen Yue's eyes swept over the morning glories that she and Ma Sha raised together, the bookshelf they made together, the dumbbells she used under Ma Sha's guidance. Bit by bit, she slowly retracted her feelings.
Shen Yue placed her hand on the door handle. As the door closed, the evidence of the two people living together was gradually cut off.
Click. The door lock was bolted tight.
"Good night, Ma Sha."
...
As always, it only took No. 14 ten minutes to bring Aipuli'er O'Neil, the leader of Building 3, to Building 1.
As a woman, Aipuli'er was exceptionally tall, standing at two heads taller than Shen Yue.
Her features were delicate yet sharp. But the perpetual lack of sunlight had given her skin an unhealthy pallor that softened the aggressiveness of her facial features, adding some haggardness.
There were many kinds of inmates in Flightless Bird - forced inmates, voluntary inmates.
Flightless Bird was a chaotic place, a hell for ordinary people yet the best shelter for some who were inherently chaotic. Aipuli'er was one such person.
She had overdone information trafficking outside and refused to rely on any particular power or be restricted by them. So she was hunted by many forces until she finally escaped into Flightless Bird and became the leader of Building 3, continuing to sell information to get by.
Other than having to hand over 70% as protection fees, everything was good.
Aipuli'er brought over by No. 14 clearly did not fully understand the situation yet. In her perspective, Building 3 had to maintain good relationships with all buildings. No matter when, having information meant grasping the situation. The importance of Building 3 went unsaid.
Usually Aipuli'er interacted a lot with the inmates and leaders of Building 1 too, and they were all very respectful towards her. It had been a long time since someone came to forcibly see her.
In this mood, Aipuli'er's first words to Shen Yue were not very polite. "So what did you call me here for? Can't you just communicate remotely?"
She knew Shen Yue's status but did not care. Shen Yue's "specialness" did not count for anything to her. Even if she got annoyed and stopped selling information to Shen Yue, it would not affect her at all.
While thinking this, Aipuli'er heard Shen Yue softly ask, "Who killed Ma Sha?"
No. 14, who had been standing to the side, trembled his right hand slightly upon hearing this, then quickly regained composure. His expression did not reveal anything unusual.
Aipuli'er was not very surprised to hear Ma Sha had died. It was as if she had expected this. "Oh, she died as expected."
Aipuli'er scratched her ear. She did not even look straight at Shen Yue, only saying, "Don't worry, the fire won't reach you, so can I leave now?"
Aipuli'er knew everything that happened between Shen Yue and Ma Sha. With Ma Sha dead, Shen Yue would probably be sad for a while, but that was it.
In this prison, all the inmates of Building 1 were merely commodities. They could not do much.
"Who killed Ma Sha?"
Shen Yue asked again.
Aipuli'er moved her eyes, feeling a little surprised. "I cannot answer you. That information has already been purchased."
"Who killed Ma Sha?" Shen Yue ignored Aipuli'er's words and asked again.
She took a step closer to Aipuli'er with no expression, making it hard to discern her thoughts.
Sensing something off with Shen Yue's state, Aipuli'er also softened her voice and repeated, "It's Building 3's rules. We can't sell the same information to one person twice. You can buy it from someone else in our building. As you know, Building 3 does not sell fake news. Anything sold must be real."
That was, if you happened to find someone who knew the information you wanted.
And in the entire Building 3, the most well-informed was Aipuli'er O'Neil.
Shen Yue stopped next to Aipuli'er upon hearing this. After a slight ponder, she nodded.
Aipuli'er heaved a sigh of relief, about to leave, when she heard the sound of a gun cocking.
Shen Yue skillfully pulled a gun out from No. 14's thigh and pointed it right at Aipuli'er's heart. "I'm not buying information from you."
"You're going to trade this information for your life."